Veendam from Venice

[Andy Scontras]

Hello all--
My wife and I are experienced cruisers but this will be our first with HAL ...

We are booked Venice to Venice in April on Veendam and are arriving the night prior via air. My problem is that I have been unable to get a satisfactory answer from HAL regarding a hotel in Venice and transfers from the airport/hotel/ship.

Has anyone done Venice?

My past experience with NCL and Orient always included a package hotel for arrival but apparently this isn't offered by HAL so I'm (blindly) trying to arrange it myself.

BTW I did query the cruiseline but they referred me to my travel agent -- no help there. (I know ... but it is too late to get a new travel agent )
Baffled,
andy

[Lady Luna]

My husband and I are sailing from Venice on April 19. I have the seame concerns as you.
We booked one night post-cruise near Realto Bridge and flying back home on April 30.
When My travel agent asked for transfer from the airport to cruise ship, they quoted $40 per person. I decided that land taxi is cheaper and faster option.
Also the cheapest hotel price they offered was north of $500, which is not acceptable.
Now I am trying to figure myself ways to get from point to point. as none of them seem to be straightforward, besodes water taxi, which is too expensive for my taste.

[Andy Scontras]

I booked a room at Hotel Principe -- after digging around the internet for days this seemed to be a fair balance of cost vs acceptability. Still not sure how I'm going to get there from the airport!